Somehow the Dallas Cowboys have become the favorites to land Johnny Manziel. The Cowboys are slowly building their backup plan to Tony Romo who is not getting any younger. However, not a single other quarterback on the Dallas roster is a worthy replacement to the starter in the next few years. With this draft deep at the position, the Cowboys would be smart to get someone to develop, but Dallas is not committing to the idea of a trade up for the Texas A&M star.
Yes, Manziel would be a splashy grab for Dallas. The team has not taken a quarterback with a top draft pick in years, but many believe Manziel is worth the move. The Cowboys draft at No. 16, but everyone from ESPN to ProFootballTalk have predicted the Cowboys will make a move for the rookie quarterback if he drops out of the top two picks. However, the Cowboys are not committing to that idea, yet they are not denying it.
Speaking on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, executive vice president Stephen Jones remained coy on where the Cowboys would be drafting a quarterback. "There's not anything I can say about it. We haven't quite gotten into sorting out the quarterbacks yet, that will come, in terms of finalizing our board."
News surfaced on Monday that the Cowboys were looking to do anything to get Manziel. Of course if he was around at No. 16, Dallas would draft him no matter how much the front office downplays the idea. However, the quarterback will not drop that far on the boards come next Thursday meaning the Cowboys would have to make a big trade in order to get him.
"The only thing I'll say about Johnny Manziel is he obviously had a great career in college, one of the greatest college football players that I've watched in terms of exciting and being a great competitor," Jones said. "Those are things we'll work through and there's a lot of things that go into where you ultimately put a player on your board."
The Cowboys will draft a quarterback. Brandon Weeden, Chad Hanie and Kyle Orton are not the future and in maybe four years, Romo will not be either. Dallas must grab someone now and help develop them. The question becomes when. If Manziel is not available for Dallas, the team appears likely to wait until a later round. AJ McCarron, Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger would be the favorites to land with the team.
